Washington: NASA and Boeing have postponed the launch of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule once more, allowing four additional days to evaluate a helium leak before proceeding with the spacecraft’s inaugural manned mission into space, the space agency announced on Friday.
Starliner’s liftoff from Florida has faced multiple delays in May, with the latest scheduled launch date set for May 21. However, a technical glitch with its Atlas 5 rocket led to a prior postponement. The program is notably behind schedule, exceeding $1.5 billion over budget.
The most recent delay aims to provide sufficient time “to finalize next steps that address a stable helium leak,” stated NASA. The new launch target is set for no earlier than 3:09 p.m. EDT (1909 GMT) on Saturday, May 25.
Also Read | Philippines to Purchase 5 Patrol Boats from Japan in ₱23.9 Billion Deal Amid South China Sea Tensions
Boeing has been diligently developing Starliner for over a decade to furnish NASA with an additional U.S. spacecraft capable of shuttling astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, crafted under the same NASA initiative, successfully launched astronauts into space in 2020.
Starliner’s upcoming mission, termed the Crewed Flight Test, marks the final assessment before the spacecraft earns certification from the U.S. space agency for routine astronaut missions to the ISS. In 2022, Boeing executed an unmanned Starliner voyage to the ISS after grappling with years of technical and managerial challenges.
